


Circumstance and perfect Chaos

by LetUsWriteItOut



Series: Friday Mishap Series [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - No Time Travel, FrostIron - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:42:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29838963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetUsWriteItOut/pseuds/LetUsWriteItOut
Summary: After defeating Thanos, Super Tony is looking for a new hobby.How that sort of ends up being Loki, is just a coincidence. But then again - later - it's also not.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Series: Friday Mishap Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1998826
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Haha, I must admit, Loki/Tony aren't my primary ship, but I wanted to have something different.
> 
> If you wanna know how Tony became Super Tony, why are there 2 Tonys, and how did the younger Tony end up with Steve and Bucky, I suggest maybe reading the whole series, but otherwise it's not needed for the Loki/Tony part ;)
> 
> Hope you guys will like it!  
> XOXO

After defeating Thanos in mere 5 minutes this time around, there was not much that could challenge the Avengers.

And that was best. But also the worst.

They'd made the deal with his other self. Younger Tony retired from the Avengers, managing more research than ever before, leaving the fight to him.

But Tony - thanks to the Serum - barely needed sleep, and there was no need for a superhero for almost a year now.

So out of heavy boredom, and as an experiment in itself, Tony was in the middle of trying something new, although he didn't advertise it.

Tony Stark having the project "Be less of an asshole" made it sound like it was a joke. Plus, he didn't want Rhodey or anybody else trying his patience on purpose after hearing about it.

But it took conscious effort, so at least it was something he could concentrate on.

Rule One: Don't be late from everywhere, all the time. Making everyone else wait for at least half an hour only for you (and show up).

Two: Remember, other people were raised in an environment where it's normal to say hello when you enter a room.

Three: No matter how bad you're with names, and how tempting it is, don't give complete strangers nicknames. They won't find it funny.

And the list went on and on and on. Hundreds of entries. Friday had permission to remind him if he forgot some.

But he wondered if trying to be half-decent didn't make him even more restless. More than he was already because of the lack of bad guys threatening Earth.

"I'd like to say a few words," he stood, and heard an immediate "is he drunk? I thought he couldn't get drunk anymore" from somewhere, as well as saw Rhodey and Steve both come up to him, trying to take the mic away from his hand.

Thinking probably that Tony was about to ruin Pepper and Happy's wedding, and Tony couldn't blame them for that assumption.

It sucked to come to a wedding with no plus one when your other self had plus two. Not to mention, when the bride was your ex you thought you'll marry yourself.

But maybe these were exactly the reason Tony wanted to give a speech. And why he wanted to change.

"I haven't known Pepper and Happy for a long time," he started, because there were people in the room who didn't have the clearance to know he was Tony as well. Just looking different now. "But it feels like we've known each other for many years."

"Don't do this," Cap warned, but it's not like he could just tackle Tony to the ground and take the mic away from him - not anymore, not without serious effort, that is.

Tony ignored the warning. 

"I think I might have a limited time before I'll be escorted out, so I'll skip a bunch of hilarious anecdotes and get straight to the serious stuff. Pepper and Happy. What a pair. Congratulations! I'd wish you happiness, but there's no need because you already have it. Everyone in this room can see it. And I'm also willing to bet a billion dollars it will last forever. How could I possibly know this? Well. Because you've already made it through the worst. You've been both the employees of Tony Stark for long years, and rumor has it, he was kind of a jerk. As I know I'm still am. Even that had never stopped you two though. So it's no gamble to say if you could handle him in the past, marriage will be just smooth sailing for you. Speaking of, I would like to give you a little present," Tony put a key in front of the couple. "I know you already have your honeymoon destination, but maybe with a boat that's only for you two, you'd be reminded to relax sometimes even-"

But then, Pepper was biting her lip, and Happy was laughing.

"We've already got a yacht from Tony," Happy explained.

"Oh," Tony felt stupid. Of course, they both would think of the same present. No matter how different they had become, they were still both Tony Starks.

"We should have a wishlist for our anniversary," Pepper tried to make it right.

But Tony wished Cap had managed to get the mic from him earlier, so he just nodded and went back to his workshop. 

That's where Pepper had found him hours later, still in her dress, but without any shoes on.

"You know, it's still a nice gesture."

"Why come all the way to thank me though?" Tony just asked straight away.

"And hearing you admit how much of a... _handful_ you can be felt better than I'd ever care to admit," Pep went on with a smile.

"Is there a but coming?" Tony wondered. "It feels like there is..."

"I'm worried. For you. Can't help it. You know, old habits and such," Pepper sat down with a sigh. "I tend to think-"

"If I don't have anybody by the age of 50, I'll just ask Friday to marry me," Tony said and got a mild shock from his watch.

From Friday. Warning him that he broke Rule Number 6 = he wasn't supposed to be using sarcasm to cover up what he was really feeling.

Or maybe it was her way of saying no to that arrangement.

"I'm not saying it wasn't a nice to go through with the wedding and the dinner without a scene, Tony, because I respect you more than to lie," Pepper went on. "But a part of me thinks you're too harsh on yourself."

"That's not it, believe me," snorted and bit down on a sarcastic remark that would have probably just shocked him once again.

"So you didn't put yourself down in your speech because you were thinking you didn't deserve me?" Pepper asked him straight out. "Not even a little bit?"

And damn if Tony didn't want to make a cruel and highly inappropriate joke then, but what would have been a point. Pepper knew him. Really knew him.

"Maybe a tiny bit."

"For what it's worth, I think you're gay. In any reality that's close to ours. So we could have never made it," Pepper put a hand on his shoulder in a mothering gesture. "Didn't think so in the past, but when I saw the other Tony with Steve and Bucky, it was like a puzzle finally fell to place. It felt right."

"Thanks for the advice," Tony was keenly aware that he was keeping Pepper from her wedding night now.

"Oh yeah? You look worse than when I came in," Pepper wasn't leaving just yet though. "So out with it."

"If you're right, and that's a big if, because quite frankly I've... never been in a position where I could freely consider it," Tony felt almost as if he was tortured that he had to articulate these words in this order, but he didn't want to waste Pepper's time. "Even then, the people who I'd be attracted, maybe - possibly - are both taken. By my other self."

"Then it's luck that now we have more super-soldiers," Pepper told him, finally standing up to leave.

"It's... that's not what I meant. It's not like they're my type, I'm just saying-"

"Then even better. There are lots of eligible men out there," Pepper teased him and winked.

"Oh, and how am I supposed to get to know any of them? Locked up in here? Fury's security detail following me around everywhere? And don't say Tinder, because..."

"All I'm saying is that maybe you should channel your energies more on important things that matter than trying to be so hard someone you aren't."

"But even if I wanted what you're suggesting, and if you're right, how am I supposed to meet any-"

"You're Tony Stark, I'm sure you can figure it out," Pep gestured at him, making him laugh, just before turning to leave.

It wasn't much later that Barnes showed up, bringing some cake to Tony.

"Why aren't you at the party, Barnes? Or in bed, with your men?" Tony otherwise would have said thanks, rule number four (don't forget to say thank you!), but with Bucky, he knew that was understood anyway.

"If I say hearing your speech I was close to what you may call worry involving your person, on the scale of one to ten how irritating will you find that fact?" Bucky asked, making Tony just smile. "Because if it's more than 13, I'm sure I can come up with some other excuse than coming to check up on you when you're clearly fine-"

"That's because I am," Tony nodded.

"And don't need mothering from a person like me," Bucky only agreed with a grin.

"What's with all the caring?" Tony wondered out loud. "I thought we weren't friends. Then there's a wedding, which is a joyous occasion, and people suddenly worry? About me?"

"Don't get carried away here, I'm only one person," Bucky said, and Tony couldn't help but chuckle. "But you're acting like someone else was not only obviously over the top phony, but-"

"I'll let you know, Pepper has already been here, and said the same thing."

"So you'll stop, listening to the voice of the people, then?" Bucky only asked then.

"I don't think acting like half a decent human being is a crime," Tony only said.

"It clashes with your style, though."

"Ouch, tell me what you really think, Barnes."

"If you think being PC all the time is a priority, something must be very wrong."

"It's... Take your boyfriend. He's changed a lot, and he's so happy that's almost too annoying to watch," Tony was so honest as rule number 8 required him to be. "That can't be so bad."

"Yes, but our Tony doesn't act like an asshole exactly because he's happy, and not the other way around," Bucky spoke with the same candor.

Tony didn't know what he could add to that when everything was so clear for both of them.

"Maybe you could get back on some of the research if there's nobody to fight," Bucky suggested. "I'm sure our Tony would reconsider letting you, given that you invented time-travel when nobody knew it was possible."

No, it was better if Tony didn't work with himself, but then, Barnes gave him an idea.

"Out, I have some calculations to run," he told Bucky already pulling up a screen.

"Was it something that I've said?" Barnes lingered with a smirk, looking at the data. What was surprising that he had recognized what Tony had pulled up. Maybe hanging with the other Tony, he learned more than this Tony would have ever given him credit for. "I hope you aren't planning on destroying the timeline of all the sudden?"

"You said so yourself. I'm just bored with too much free time," Tony snuck another bite of the cake while he was already listing out the things he needed to get to in his mind, multitasking. "So if the fight will not come to Tony, then Tony must go to the fight."

"You're traveling forward in time, to see when the next big threat will happen?" Bucky carefully kept his face neutral, but his voice didn't sound like he thought that was a good idea.

"I could, but I'd only see a possible future out of many, that won't be necessary where this timeline is going."

"Then? Please tell me you won't destroy the world based on me trying to talk to you."

"Quite the opposite. I'm going to see if I can travel between alternative universes, and see if any of the Earths I come across need saving. If I could modify the time-GPS to an AU-GPS, I could even come back. Keep an eye out for technology that's more advanced than ours while I'm at it, and possibly bring it back for your Tony..."

"If you don't get killed, and can return."

"I'm Super-Tony."

"And the bad guys steal your tech, and invade all the universes they can reach in turn, or just simply follow you home," Bucky added, even though by then he could probably see there was no way of changing Tony's mind.

"It'll be fine, I promise."

"Just... before you do anything... okay, I'm not saying you should go to Fury or UN with tech like this, but I'm begging you, don't go alone. If nothing else, I'll go with you as backup."

Which was a nice offer, but Bucky retired, just as Cap and other Tony only worked part-time to have time to spend with each other, and it's not like Tony wanted to put Barnes' life at risk. How things have changed.

"Maybe you can be my operator on this side," Tony agreed. "And extract me if something goes wrong. Destroy the connection if something goes terribly wrong. But we can argue about that once I figure out a way to do it, you realize."

"You better tell me once you did," Bucky warned. "Friday, make him if you have to."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literary nobody asked, but in case you guys are wondering what I'm up to with this fic and where is it going let me just say: 
> 
> I haven't the slightest. Working without a plot isn't what I'm usually doing but it's also fun!
> 
> Hope you guys will like it too! XOXO

Meeting people in the alternative universes was a cumulative experience.

Local histories could be very different, but if you traveled to enough alternative universes of Earth, some experiences only added up.

It reminded Tony of the drawings they had in the cave with Yinsen. A simple layer of an HB pencil design didn't amount to much, but if you added all the layers together in front of the light, you got the bigger picture.

Take Steve Rogers for instance. He was always very articulate, quite self-assured, and in every reality, willing to give his all for the cause he believed in. Only, in some rare cases, Hydra was that cause.

Still, circumstances didn't change who people fundamentally were. Yet.

In a couple of realities where the Battle of New York was yet to happen, Tony always went for the chief Chitauri ship to destroy it (knowing what he knew now), and Loki always followed, fighting him.

No matter how deranged, he wasn't supposed to welcome Tony with a small laugh, and then say.

"How about I ceasefire? I won't open the portal for the Chitauri so long as you don't call anyone to arrest me."

"Aren't you going to try to throw me out of a building first? Command the Chitauri to target me personally?" Tony wondered. "Or try to warp my mind?"

"Kind of you to remind me," Loki shrugged. "But maybe we could sit this one out."

Tony didn't answer, because it sounded like Loki had also retained memories from alternative dimensions, and if that was so, he's more dangerous than Tony until then - after a good 30-40 fights they fought against each other - assumed.

"In case you're wondering, I don't exactly know what you're hiding, no, but I got a very strange message from a trusted source," Loki disclosed.

"What was it?" Tony was acutely aware that if somebody (other than him) could jump or communicate between alternate timelines, all the Earths could be in grave danger.

"'Don't fight Tony Stark.'"

"Who sent it?"

"Me," Loki grinned.

"How?" Tony cautiously asked.

"Magic, of course."

Which wasn't even close to the explanation that Loki could have given to him, and they both knew that.

"Then, a drink. We should have one," Tony alerted SHIELD about their location immediately the same, as well as supplying info to the Avengers through Jarvis how if the Chitauri came, they were supposed to aim for their mothership, not trusting Loki in the slightest. "What's your poison?"

"You know, it's not smart to try to trick me when the scepter I hold can read people's dominating intention of the moment, it's part of how it works," Loki sighed.

"I still managed somehow in the past," Tony remembered.

"Maybe, if you were so full of another emotion like grief, rage, or fear so I didn't sense it. But now it's not the case, is it? And while the staff cannot read minds, I can."

The "ceasefire" was, Tony realized, just a way to partially get him out of his suit, so Loki could come up close to him as if for a talk, but now it was too late.

Loki's hand was already on his head, and the God of Mischief was flipping through memories where Tony had met Loki - any other version - in the past as if he was just watching a movie.

The moment Loki let go of him, Tony was all but ready to attack, when-

"WAIT! I meant what I said about the truce! If what your Thor in your reality told about me was true, and Thanos will kill me, I have every reason to be on the same side as you are."

Tony hesitated.

"Prove it," Tony said, still a bit on edge from the mind-reading, and ready to fire. "Tell me how you can send a message between AUs, and I might just believe you."

"Well, why do you think I want the Tessaract?"

"Why not?" Tony was a bit irritated by the question at first but then thought better of it. "You want to give it to Thanos."

Loki scoffed.

"I'm not serving him or anybody else, only myself. You should know this by now."

"Alright. You wanna keep it."

"But why?"

"To use as an exotic nightlight?" Tony shrugged. Not expecting a laugh from Loki, and a generally entertained tone.

"If I wanted that, I'd just have to keep you in my bed, with no clothes on - given your unique chest-piece, don't you think?"

"Are you trying to flirt with me?" A part of Tony was mortified by that. Another was totally not.

"Do you wish I was? I could be anyone you'd like me to be," Loki stepped closer, and morphed into a woman.

"I think if I had to choose, your original form is more appealing to me," Tony noted. "But-"

Hearing that, Loki only changed back and took advantage of how Tony's faceplate still wasn't closed when he kissed him. For a split second, Tony might have forgotten who Loki was, because he didn't push the demigod away.

Then, it came back to him that there was no reality where Loki wouldn't try to use this as a way to trick him, and he took an abrupt step back.

"Why don't you just... tell me what you _really_ want," Tony pretended to put his hands in his pocket, but was secretly checking if Loki didn't pickpocket him for the Pym particles Tony had on him.

"Same as you, it seems," Loki offered. "Since you aren't staying, and after what I've just learned from your mind, neither am I, we can have sex and have truly no regrets or strings attached-"

"It's not what I want," Tony said. Although a part of him definitely wanted it. A part that has been bored by saving the world again and again and again aaand yet again, most people in them acting always the same.

This Loki didn't.

"You kissed back."

"You can't possibly mean that, you despise humans."

"True. But, I'm also wildly attracted to powerful men," there was a mischievous light in Loki's eyes. "And you defeated Thanos."

"Maybe some other time," Tony could only say, way too taken aback to even think of a smart comeback.

In fact, he advised Loki to leave Earth and the Tesseract behind (if he didn't want to get caught and be held prisoner by the SHIELD special unit that finally arrived), just before he abruptly returned home - as if he was chased by something.

And when the next and the next and the following Loki he met after that were all very much intent on killing him, he thought that it was a mere fluke, a thing in the past.

Only when the next Loki managed to overpower him and read his memories, he let go of Tony with a surprise.

"So that's what the message was about."

"'Kill Tony Stark first', or something like that?" Tony guessed. After all, the last time he couldn't get Loki to tell him how the messaging worked, and he supposed Loki didn't especially handle rejection well.

"'Tony Stark owes you a dinner,'" Loki, however, said. "Previously, you did say some other time, yes?"

"No is not a good time, either," Tony said.

"Why not? Sooner or later it's bound to happen and I can tell you want me," Loki only leveled his gaze at him. "We can even skip the fancy dinner."

"I could think about a hundred reasons easily, believe me," Tony replied, although as Loki was standing close, he wasn't quite sure he could think clearly for long.

It didn't make any sense. Tony started traveling looking to do something with his time because while he understood perfectly how his other self was very attracted to Steve and Bucky, he himself had never experienced such a strong attraction to anybody, and he never thought he would.

And Loki was nothing like Cap. Not even resembling anything of Bucky either. But then?

Loki could be intriguing. Dangerous, yet not just that. Trying to kill him in one reality, only to try to get into Tony's pants next.

Maybe it was only how the alternative realities didn't quite exactly add up to a definite picture in Loki's case, and Tony's unconscious mind appreciated that almost as if it was a challenge?

Maybe then Loki was right, and once Tony got over his curiosity, everything could return to "normal"?

"Think of it as a way to distract me from my world-ending-massively-evil plans," Loki only told him, not backing down. "Happening just this once."

Tony didn't stop Loki as he leaned closer, and as the kiss deepened, he entertained the thought of what could happen. But pulled away before anything more would happen.

His logical side reminding him that if Loki figured out how his arc-reactor was now just an accessory and not part of him, he could use the Mind Stone to control him too. 

And, not necessarily but possibly make him surrender his secret ways between AUs to Loki, who - most of the time - was still after Earth.

Ending up in a universe next where Loki and the Chitauri won, Tony Stark was left behind in space, and Loki was ruling Earth in terror.

As soon as Tony had gathered this information, he was about to return home, thinking it was too risky to stay, but was captured, and disarmed by people wielding advanced weapons that were harnessing the Tessaract's energy.

When a guard came to his cell with not less than saying "Loki is ready to kill you now" Tony was only calculating the odds he had to maybe take Loki with him.

But, Loki didn't harm him, nor did he use the Mind Stone, "just" placed his palm on Tony's head, and took all the information he wanted.

"You know, a little warning before you do that would be nice," Tony muttered, thinking this evil Loki would kill him just because of the memories alone, but he couldn't be further from the truth.

"I didn't die in this reality, as you can see. But nothing went according to my plans either. You could help me."

"I hate to break it to you, but enslaving the whole population of Earth if not the galaxy isn't my style," Tony told him.

"You don't understand. I wanted to trick Thanos, but in the end, he double-crossed me. Ruling Earth is part of my punishment, given that I hate both ruling and Midgardians. You could stay and help me get rid of him-"

"Sorry," Tony said, but he wasn't.

"Why don't you give me a week to convince you? I have your suit and gear and could very well even force you to, but if you agree to a week, you have my word I'd let you go."

So, Tony had finally little choice but to take that as the best offer, and Loki did everything in his power to prove to him he wasn't evil. Even told him how the "messages" worked.

"With my magic, I can bend the fabric of space-time to a certain degree, and temporally step outside my reality, to a sort of internal void," he explained to Tony carefully on the second day. "That's how I can appear to be in more places than at once, and conjure weapons seemingly out of thin air. I originally wanted the Tesseract because it would let me do the same, but on a significantly bigger scale, but Thanos made sure I had no access to it after New York."

"And how does this tie-in to the messages you seem to leave across all the dimensions I travel to?"

"Notice, the messages are always very compact, and for a reason. And it's most likely not all the dimensions, because some of the Lokis in your memories had attacked you the same, and I imagine still will in the future. It must be that if you appear in a reality that's close enough to the last one you visited, my powers could be enough to sustain a weak and short message, even without the Tesseract."

"If that's so, what will you send out to all your neighboring Lokis?" Tony asked.

"Ask me that once the week is over," Loki told him.

On day 6, he kissed Tony, and when Tony didn't even try to pretend to resist, all but led Tony to his bedroom, pushing him down to an extravagant bed, before returning to Tony's mouth again.

"As tempting as this is, I really can't stay," Tony by then knew this Loki wasn't evil beyond a certain facade. Felt like if he was to have sex with Loki, pretending to want to stay, he'd only take advantage of Loki's despair. "With an infinite amount of universes, if I want to save the most worlds possible, I should be concentrating on the ones where I can immediately help with the least amount of effort, so I can quickly move on to the next. Not stay here for years for a fight Thanos that may or may not and badly."

"As I figured that out after the first couple of days," Loki answered, but he was still in Tony's lap. "But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the time we still have left."

Tony got caught up in the moment. Not only didn't he stop Loki, but even after, when they were both naked and sated on the sheets, he could only look at Loki with new eyes.

This version, who kept him company every day for the last week, upbeat if not a little treacherous sometimes, but still remarkably witty and open, was also almost fragile compared to all the other Loki's he had met before. But not when he had to act like he the cruel ruler Thanos had forced him to be.

Which, in turn, only made Tony think that maybe all Loki's weren't so fickle and different after all. If Loki was using bravado to consistently cover that part himself up, only showing it to Tony now because he was bound to leave anyway, and it was hard to pretend all the time...

Of course, since Tony was also a master of pretense - albeit acting out a different role - he sort of guessed that already. But he would have never thought Loki's deception went so far. 

"I'm starving, should we order some delicacies in?" Loki pulled out Tony of his thoughts. "I have grown accustomed to eat what humans call pizza and hamburgers if I feel like celebrating. And the very sweat and small cakes, how do you call them?"

"Cupcakes?" Tony absentmindedly mused. There was a part of him that couldn't help but be entertained by Loki's antics. "Maybe you should also try ice-cream if you like sweets."

Hearing that, Loki gave him a passing look but ordered some anyway.

Tony left that universe knowing that while Loki had humored him trying out many-many flavors like Triple Chocolate Oreo, his favorite was one of the simplest ones they've tried amongst the very first: lemon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Never did I think that I'd still get so many readers and even kudos for something that's just basically the 3rd part of a random fic. It means a lot! XOXO

After Tony had spent 2 months in captivity on an Earth that was occupied by the Children of Thanos, he modified his extraction protocols.

It now worked by setting a timer after Tony's arrival, and going off even if Tony's tech was stolen or taken. The countdown would reach zero, taking Tony automatically back, and then any piece of his device left behind would self-destruct, leaving his enemies none the wiser.

However, Tony was yet to test it between interplanetary distances. What if when this failsafe went off, or he had to activate it, and Tony wasn't back on Earth? 

That would only make the already complex calculations far more complicated. And even a minor mistake in the was distances of space was a mistake Tony couldn't afford.

Best case would mean he wouldn't get back to (his) Earth, just somewhere close, and float in space until he ran out of air. 

Alternatively, he could end up somewhere unpleasant. Like in the event horizon of a black hole. In the middle of some random sun. Or worse: stranded on a planet with aliens who had a sense of humor.

Thus, Tony was intent on not leaving Earth in the different alternative universes, unless it was necessary. And even then, get back to Earth by conventional means, before jumping to his AU back.

Easier said than done though when Tony had just barely arrived once and was snatched away with a colorful beam that he could only imagine was the Bifrost.

"Welcome to Asgard, mortal. Prince Loki is waiting for you in the city," the person operating the Bifrost with a giant sword greeted him.

"Howdy. _Should I run to him right now?_ " and even though that had earned Tony quite a shock from Friday, given that it was his most sarcastic comment since months, it was worth it.

Or rather, not, when the gatekeeper only gave him a wondering look.

"Well, the Prince isn't accustomed to be kept waiting, but I'm also quite sure he wouldn't want to hurt yourself in an effort to get to him faster either."

Tony rather walked away than attempt a discussion about how people from Earth can run, exercise, or be left alone for 5 minutes unsupervised without being a danger to themselves because... truth to be told, he was quite sure no amount of sarcasm would suffice.

"I'll try not to wreak my knees. Or throw out a hip. You know, those are usually the first to go," he said, and flew straight to the city, as fast as his suit could go. Arriving so fast he almost felt unprepared.

Well, maybe he was just taken aback because Loki sat on the throne, and everything around them seemed to be made out of solid gold.

"I like the color scheme. Could use a little bit more colors, maybe, but-"

"Leave us," Loki ordered, and a bunch of people who - Tony supposed - were Aesir left the room hurriedly, but then Loki turned to the guards as well. "You too."

Tony only hoped he wouldn't have to curtsy.

"Impressive flying," Loki stood up and walked closer.

"Maybe I could have stuck the landing better," Tony pointed out. "If I wasn't so preoccupied with the fact that I was abducted by aliens. In broad daylight, without even a text first, despite how fragile humans apparently are..."

Loki had a small smirk in the corner of his lips.

"I'm sorry about that, truly, but I got a peculiar message about you, and Allfather says I'm not allowed the leave the planet at the moment, so I couldn't just go and get you myself."

Tony didn't think discussing Loki being grounded or house-arrest was appropriate right after they've just met, so he changed the topic.

"I don't mind, but maybe before you warp my mind next, you could buy me dinner or send some flowers or something."

"How about I show you to your quarters, and rather than me reading your mind, you tell me yourself what I'd see? Or is it unlike the fragile Midgardians to have conversations?"

It was almost unreal. Tony had barely arrived, and they already had an inside joke. So much so, that by the end of the day, when Loki did read Tony's mind, it didn't seem as intrusive or even as lengthy as before.

And when Loki came to Tony's room in the middle of the night (first scaring the shit out of him), Tony barely had it in him to object when Loki climbed into his bed and passionately kissed him.

"Look, we barely know each other..."

"I can tell you all about me in the morning if that's what you want."

"... and as tempting this is," Tony still tried to do the right thing. "I don't think we should..."

"Are you saying the Loki I saw in your memories was better than me? Because I too could sell out Earth if-" Loki stated with a certain edge in his voice.

"Please don't. But we've only met today, and I don't want you to feel like you're obliged to do anything just because-"

"I have the memories and you lived those memories," Loki didn't seem to mind. "So just know I won't break either."

Loki got rid of all of his clothes as if they were just a nuisance, only to go excruciatingly slow with Tony's as if he skillfully had to pay extra attention to each body part that was uncovered before he could proceed.

In the morning, Loki took him to the library - the only part of the tour of the palace Tony took interest in - and not only magically gave Allspeak to Tony, but introduced him to the basics of their written text as well.

That meant Tony could hold up a page of a book and Friday was able to transform the runes to the alphabet for him in real-time, projecting the interpreted text to Tony's glasses, and with the help of Allspeak, Tony could understand the rest.

Most of the books like legends were of not much importance to him, but then there were also ones on advanced science, physics, and engineering, and Tony was only curious first, and then completely lost time the next. Days had gone by.

Loki visiting him each night the same just as the first, and often coming to get him after yet another day Tony had spent selecting, reading, and scanning in ancient texts.

"You missed all the meals today," he told Tony on the fifth day. "So I came to remind you that the books will be still here tomorrow."

"They might, but I can't stay for much longer," Tony didn't notice he was hungry before, but now was keenly aware he could eat.

"Why-ever not?" Loki gestured around. "Allfather himself was gracious enough to allow you to research anything you want, you're my guest, and also the first person to step on this planet who seems to be interested in some form of culture."

That made Tony smile but also say.

"You've seen my mission. In my mind. I love learning new stuff, but that's only secondary. There are so many words I can save with the tech I already possess that even if I was immortal I wouldn't have time to get to them all. So as much as I'd like to stay-"

"Well, you have to stay at least until the coronation ceremony, it's only days away now," Loki insisted. "If you think you've seen what Asgard has to offer, wait until you see the celebrations in the name of the new king."

"Who is that?" Tony wondered, because nobody had mentioned Thor ever since he arrived, and the one time he tried to ask Odin about him, everyone got eerily quiet.

"Me," Loki shrugged. "I told you I'm not allowed to leave the planet, why did you think it was?"

The shock must have been written all over his face, but Tony tried to pretend what he was hearing wasn't so different than his reality.

"I assumed... why is it exactly?"

"Because Odin fears for his only successor's life so close to the coronation?" Loki helped him out.

"Oh, so Thor's dead," Tony noted, rather than asking if Odin would then permit Loki to come to Tony's room every night without his guards if he knew.

"Try alive, but never coming back."

"Oh?"

"Got banished, and quite literary lost his mind. Now he's closer to a savage beast than a king capable of reason."

"And I assume you had nothing to do with it?" Tony asked, keenly aware how this Loki had him under his charm, but still was pretty much Loki.

"I must admit, I might have goaded him at first, but that was more than 300 years ago," Loki sighed. "If I could, I'd undo it, believe me, but he's beyond saving. Interplanetary diplomacy makes me wanna hang myself, just as court politics, and don't even get me started on Odin's face when he looks at me and I can see the disappointment in his eyes that his spare, adopted son must inherit his throne, but after what happened with Thor, I made a promise to mother to do it."

And suddenly, even if Tony wanted to see Loki still as the Loki who threw him out of a window, he couldn't. Or maybe that wasn't sudden at all.

This time, it was him who kissed Loki, breaking the contact to only say.

"I think I can stay a little bit longer until the celebrations."

"Fret not, your valiant efforts will be generously rewarded," Loki whispered into his ear, making him laugh.

That was because Tony assumed their nightly activities would anyway come to a natural end after Loki's coronation. And he saw no harm in letting off some steam - in a way - with Loki until then.

Only when he was ready to leave and got arrested for it did he realize something was off about that theory.

"I told you I had to leave!" he tried not to yell at Loki, but only partially succeeded.

"And if I remember correctly, I told you I didn't want you to go. Outright."

He did, but Tony assumed it was more of a joke. Just a polite way to say goodbye. He should have realized his mistake right then, Loki never being polite.

"So what, I'm your prisoner now?"

"You're the king's esteemed guest," Loki only told him. "Why would you leave anyway? I've seen how you look at those books. Our knowledge, our city, our machines. And me. You'd be able to live out a very-very long and content life here with my help..."

"Being your mistress? Until you don't get bored of that as well?" Tony was shaking.

He loved every moment he spent with this Loki - right until he was told he had no other choice, Loki's mood shifting from playful to the quite opposite.

"I was going to wait with it, given that I'm barely king just yet," Loki came closer. "But maybe having twice as many reasons to celebrate would mean all the more merriment to the people of Asgard."

"What are you talking about?"

"I made a deal with Allfather. I'd rule as he instructs me, being more of a puppet than my own person until he lives, but in turn, I get to decide who I will marry. We could do it as soon as tomorrow."

"Wow. Just wow," Tony noted. "Even if Odin would really agree, I didn't, and I'm quite sure your people won't accept me as your bride either."

"I was born female. Odin saved me from certain death only because he thought I'd be a good enough wife for his son later, and our marriage would bring true peace between Asgard and Jotunheim. Everybody knows this, it's common knowledge. In fact, I might have tried to get rid of Thor when he was banished exactly because I didn't want to wed a brainless oaf."

Tony was caught off guard by that info. But still. The point wasn't how different this AU was compared to some others.

"Look, I'm not entirely unsympathetic. Hell, we could spend probably years trading stories of distant father figures with sky-high expectations," he told Loki, trying to appeal to Loki with logic. "But that doesn't change the fact that you can't force me to stay."

That came out all wrong... Not that Tony wasn't exactly thinking what he had said, but maybe he should have put it more in a context of how Loki didn't want to do this and avoid saying "force" altogether.

Because, Loki who started listening openly after the first sentence, only got furious when he heard how Tony worded the last.

"That's where you're wrong. I'm the king of the Nine Realms, and the last time I've checked, Midgard was on that list, so I'm your king as well. _I own you!_ And even if you don't see it, you will. With time. Which we will have plenty of once we're married."

"I only meant-" Tony tried to correct his mistake, but when Loki stormed off, calling a bunch of guards to watch Tony's every move 24/7, announcing their wedding just 2 days later, so Tony had to act.

He used the extraction protocol despite knowing full well it wasn't ready to use many lightyears away from Earth.

In a way, he got lucky, because he got back in one piece. Strange even opened a portal to him when Tony appeared in the edge of Earth's solar system out of nowhere, and he was identified after some struggle. So Tony survived with only some frostbite and shock - floating in space in a suit that wasn't built to keep him warm against such low temperatures.

But coming back, even though what Loki wanted from him was impossible, Tony had found his thoughts occupied by him ever so often.

Loki probably only tried to push marriage because he saw just an ideal, not the real Tony, and felt some kinship towards an outsider who was also interested in the mysteries of the universe when admittedly most Asgardians weren't. Still, a part of Tony wasn't exactly glad to be 'home' either.

Staying put for a while, because he knew there could be several Lokis out for his blood after receiving a very nasty message about him.

He felt strangely jumpier than usual. He also couldn't unsee why Loki called Thor an oaf, even if Tony liked the guy. 

And Tony was having ice-cream one day when he caught himself almost wistfully thinking of Loki's domineering side and mood-swings. As if they were more of a fun challenge to navigate the mortal danger they could pose if they were to meet again. 

He was also waaay too nostalgic about the intimacy they shared, and even after when they had unfittingly deep conversations still in bed, if not dissolving into random fits of laughter, trolling each other without mercy.

So it was clear. Tony needed to get back to work and do it soon. Let any number of hostile AU Lokis knock these strange ideas out of his head. It was a solid plan. The best he got.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I wanted to describe other AU pairings as well, but now I doubt it's going to fit, given how strongly the story seems to revolve around our main couple.
> 
> For this chapter I blame the music I was listening to when I was writing it XDDD
> 
> XOXO!

It wasn't a good plan.

Since Tony started traveling back and forth between realities, he had been shot twice and had to resort to hand-to-hand combat exactly once.

Since he pissed Loki off, he had been stabbed more times than he could count, almost always had to fight Loki off from reading his mind in close combat, and Loki has fired at him with the staff containing the Mind Stone 4 times and counting.

Tony was hiding behind an overturned car now, pretty sure one of his ears was missing and he'd have to beg Dr. Cho to reconstruct it - if he survived - and was bleeding both from a stab wound, and probably internally after Loki decided to drop a bus on him.

But he at least couldn't complain that Loki didn't pay him enough attention, could he? 

And when Loki had found him, all he could think of was how maybe they should have switched in bed sometimes: Loki pushing him to the concrete with force just to climb on the top of him did nothing to intimidate him, but suddenly it seemed as if it could be a good idea for foreplay.

Obviously, Tony was losing his mind.

"Do you not get how much trouble are you in, mortal? I'm about to seriously hurt you, and your grinning," Loki couldn't understand his reaction either. Tony couldn't blame him.

"No, no, it's just my face. I only look like this when I'm about to die horribly," Tony managed to put some distance between them, but that also depleted most of the power reserve he had left.

"I'm not trying to kill you," Loki told him, but didn't slow down, and his blows only got more fierce, tearing up the concrete when Tony managed to dodge them. 

"Could have fooled me," Tony noted in turn, still grinning, but missing how a duplicate Loki had managed to sneak up on him from the behind.

Or, maybe that was the real one, given that he didn't attack but instead, held Tony in place and read his mind.

Which wasn't a step toward calming him down, so Tony only groaned when he got stabbed once again.

"You must think of me as a fool. No wonder you're so giddy."

"For the record, if you can read my mind, you should also know I was only laughing at myself. Believe it or not, but this isn't the worst date I've had. And that makes it funny. My life is a joke if you will."

"This isn't a date," Loki corrected him. "And I can't read thoughts, only intent and memories."

"So what is my intent right now?" Tony asked. He himself didn't know.

But Loki had the Mind Stone in the staff, so only blinded for a brief moment when he used it, and looked at Tony, almost as if glued to the spot.

"What?" Tony was glad to catch a breather, but not if he only managed to piss Loki all the more off.

"Do you find me killing you so sexy?" it was Loki's turn to grin. "You should have told me sooner, _dear_."

"I thought we established there wasn't going to be any killing just slowly torturing me to death," Tony argued - not that there was any point. If he had a complexion like Steve, he would have been probably red as a tomato by now.

"Should I take you right here and now? In front of all these people?" Loki only gestured around, random people in New York around them, police sirens closing in from a distance. "So they'd see what kind of a hero Tony Stark really is?"

That was a disturbing image, especially given that Tony couldn't tell if he'd care. If Loki was to make good on his promise, would it matter how many people saw?

"As fun as it is talking to you, I gotta go. I'm late for an important something," Tony decided it was best if he got home now while he still could. 

Then he still can analyze where did his life go so horribly wrong that he'd only want Loki more after their breakup. If it was a break-up at all.

"Running away so soon?" Loki tried to stop him.

"You said so yourself. New York should see exactly what kind of a man I am," Tony activated the countdown.

"Let me guess, a man who's hiding a part of himself away? But how do you run from every possible universe with me in it?" Loki challenged.

Tony then disappeared, and once back, quite theatrically collapsed on the floor in his lab, making Bucky run to him, thinking his injuries were more severe than they were really.

"I'm fine, really, just some superficial stab wounds, 's all," he told the Super Soldier, who just looked at him funny.

"You don't look so fine to me."

"I haven't mentioned my mental state on purpose, Barnes," Tony told him. "But physically, I've been through worse."

"Wanna talk about it?" Bucky helped him stand, holding out a hand.

"Nah," Tony shook his head because while he did write some general reports to SHIELD and his duplicate self about what kind of alternative realities he had seen, he didn't mention a peep about his connection to Loki in them. 

Nor to anyone. Not even Pepper or Bucky who were - he supposed - on his side, in a way.

First, because he thought it was nothing to talk about because it was nothing serious. And now? He wouldn't even know where to start.

Only, when a magical dimension gate opened, and Loki from another reality stepped through, Tony was put into the spotlight unwittingly.

He was the proud owner of two ears once again (though one was more artificial than natural now he supposed), and had healed just enough to manage to walk out of infirmary on his own (despite Dr. Cho not being happy about it), and was about to get something to eat, talking to Peter and Scott about some mundane topic like how they ran out of cereal when Loki showed up.

"That's new," he could only say, closing the fridge.

"I'll alert everyone right away, just... try to stay alive until then," Scott jumped to his feet, but he wasn't in his suit, nor was he as inconspicuous as he thought when he announced that, trying to run to the closest door behind Loki's back.

Who still had the staff in his hand, and Tony thought how easily he could have blasted the door shut if he wanted, but didn't move.

"There's no need. I'm only here for a conversation with Anthony," Loki declared.

Coincidentally, the younger Tony - who must have been called to the scene by Friday - appeared then. All suited up and ready to fight.

"Whatever you want to say better say it now before I kick your sorry ass," he told Loki.

"I actually mean the other Tony," Loki didn't even try to hide how entertained he was. "Were kind of in the middle of something with him just now. I also happened to have the Tesseract, so I thought why not drop by and say hello. Would've bought a cake if I had a heads up..."

"He's all beat up, and you have the cube and a dangerous weapon," other Tony wasn't about to stand down, just when Bucky, Bruce, and Natasha also appeared, Nat's training her pistols at Loki immediately.

"What other kind of weapon would be worth carrying if not a dangerous one?" Loki mused, looking at his staff. "But I'm willing to leave it with you until Antony and I finished talking if that would make everyone just relax."

Tony was trying to eat some pancakes and ignore everything else, but now every Avenger present was staring at him, waiting for confirmation that Loki meant what he was saying. Or maybe it was just pure shock.

"I think you should go," he told Loki after some contemplation. "Starting tomorrow, I'm retired."

It was way too risky to travel between all the universes if any number of Lokis could do the same. Maybe this Loki only came after him simply to prove that he could, but even so, he knew that wouldn't always be the case. It was over. Maybe he should pick up gardening or something.

"Does that mean I can visit you ever so often because you'll be here?" Loki only smiled.

"Why would he visit?" Scott only asked what everyone was wondering.

"Oh, _honey,_ you haven't told your friends about us?" Loki only enjoyed the petrified expressions on everyone's faces too much. "Not even the stories that lack graphic details?"

"US?! In what universe is there any _us?_ " other Tony was white as a sheet, close to gaping. Or gagging. It was hard to say.

"Well, you see-" who knew what was Loki about to say, but the Thor appeared to join the commotion. "Brother! You look good. Except maybe the missing eye. But still better than my reality where you died."

And, he gave a crushing hug to Thor, who at first froze. But then replied like-wise.

"So are you, Loki. It's good to see you're doing well."

"I've just promised to drop by for every Christmas, and whatever else can we celebrate? Easter? All the birthdays? Prom, for the young one?" he even smiled at Peter.

"That's enough," Tony finally lost his patience. "Leave your weapon here. We'll talk in my rooms. Friday, if I die in the next 10 minutes, please send Bruce in to avenge my death, but otherwise, keep everyone else out."

"You got it, boss."

Tony's intent was so that people wouldn't listen in to their every word when he sent Loki to hell, or at least the universe he was from, but the minute the elevator's door closed behind them, Loki's mouth was on his, pushing him to the closest wall.

"Stop," Tony could barely push him away.

"Why would you bring me here if not for this?" Loki gave him a knowing look.

"To tell you to go."

"True, I can't stay for long, I'm in the middle of conquering a world. But I wasn't happy with the way we left things. So why don't you show me to your bed, Stark?"

"Jesus," Tony sighed.

"Not even close, but this once, I'll allow that," Loki kissed him again.

And Tony's resolve was slipping as he found himself kissing back, giving Loki some attitude while battling him for control. 

"People will talk. You know-" Tony was proud to manage an excuse after that, Loki sucking on his neck now.

"They already think we're having wild sex in here," Loki "comforted" him. "And you know me. Hate to disappoint people's expectations of me."

"Yes, that's you," Tony rolled his eyes. "Going by the same premise, if we were to have sex, and I wanted you to leave and never come back, would you?"

"Never is quite a long time."

"I'm not kidding," Tony pushed Loki away with a newfound resolve. "If that's all I'm offering, would you just take it and then leave?"

That was the only time Loki stopped grinning, looking at him with a scrutinizing expression before finally saying.

"If you mean it, then yes."

"I do. Mean it."

"But then, we shouldn't rush," Loki stepped closer, whispering into his ear. "By the time I'm done with you, Tony Stark, you might just beg me not to leave."

Tony only cursed when Loki's skillful fingers encircled his erection next, and that was simply to tease him.

"So, do you own a bed?"

A weird thought perhaps, but when they made it to Tony's bedroom, only then did it become blindingly obvious that Pepper was right. Tony was never this expectant of what was going to happen with any of his conquests there, who were all women.

And while he already knew how compatible they were from experience, letting go and giving in to this Loki was new. Something Tony didn't even realize should aspire for until probably that very morning.

Yet, it felt so good Tony had this completely irrational fear of all the sudden that all this pleasure might just break him.

Luckily, Loki had no intention to stop, and Tony couldn't even talk by the time they were finished. Maybe that was also good. Given that this way, he wasn't tempted to suggest that Loki should return. Or stay.

"I'll just take a shower, and be on my way," Loki - kind of surprisingly - was good on his given word. "Goodbye, Tony Stark. May we meet again only if the Fates deem it to be."

And with that, he was gone. Truly. Tony made Friday scan the Tower for any clone or nasty trick Loki could have left behind, but there was nothing. Only Tony's memories.

"That must be the longest walk of shame if there was ever any," Bucky noted when even a week passed before Tony dared to show his face again in front of the other Avengers. Only appearing in the kitchen then because he was fed up with the frozen food he had in his workshop.

"Just shut up, Barnes," Tony tried to ignore them.

"Oh no, I'd like to know a couple of things," younger Tony jumped up from the couch where previously he was sitting with Steve, who tried to stop him, but missed the opportunity when Tony tore his arm out of his hand. "First, when will he be back?"

"He won't."

"And we should all just take your word for it?! There are defenseless children living in this Tower, and even if not-"

"Peter's hardly defenseless, and he won't be back. Believe me."

"Could be easier to do that if I knew about this... affair of yours, or an infatuation for bad choices or deathwish or _whatever_ it is," Tony's gesticulated so widely he knocked a lamp over. "If any of us knew! You got permission and a great deal of money to visit those AUs only because you said you were saving people from Thanos and you'll return at the first sign of danger. Then turns out you don't only pick up a deranged demigod, you also let him follow you back here?"

"Stop it," Bucky, stepped in between them then. "He also deserves a life, Tony. You have yours. Let him live his."

"But my dating doesn't pose a mortal danger to everyone on Earth! Maybe in this galaxy, knowing Loki! Why can't he also-"

"I've told you, he is gone, and won't return. But if you want to send me packing, nothing is keeping me here," Tony, however, was over the topic. 

"You shouldn't have to," Cap also came up to them. "Just leave Tony up to us. We'll handle it."

That was nicer than what Tony thought he could expect from Steve given the history, but if he wasn't evicted just yet, he thought he could get back to preparing the food he came for, so he did.

Only to have Bucky turn back to him before following Steve and other Tony out who they left.

"About that bit that nothing keeps you here, just know, I'm mildly offended. I'm your operator on this side, remember?" he asked.

"If you still want to be, after figuring I have a thing for shady and not entirely sane individuals," Tony only shrugged. And now everyone knew. Tony wondered what that said about his mental integrity as well.

"I kinda guessed that already when my Tony started going out with me as well when he could have kept just Steve only," Barnes told him. "So I were you, I'd postpone that retirement. For now. Just when things start to get interesting?"

"I'll give it some thought," Tony replied. He didn't think Bucky knew how right he was but had to turn to hide a blush that he could literary feel coming on.


End file.
